A new British safety standard for cricket helmets is currently being finalised
although it will be too late for Broad who was struck in the face by a
bouncer

New standards for cricket helmets could save players suffering the kind of facial injury sustained by Stuart Broad at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Broad retired hurt on 12 when he top edged a delivery from Varun Aaron which lodged in the gap between his grille and peak of his helmet. It was later confirmed that he had broken his nose.

His injury is similar to a nasty facial blow suffered by Somerset’s Craig Kieswetter who underwent surgery for a broken eye socket last month when a bouncer from Northamptonshire’s David Willey also went between his grille and peak of his helmet.

A new British safety standard for cricket helmets is currently being finalised and the players’ union believe it will save batsmen in future from suffering freak injuries.

“There’s a new British Standard for helmets that is coming in and is going through the testing houses at the moment and in the throes of being approved. The old British Standard didn’t even test the grille impacts and that was an obvious flaw,” said Angus Porter, the chief executive of the PCA.

“So we have been working with the ECB, the ICC and British Standards over the last couple of years and that new standard is ready to be implemented.”

In future helmets will be subject to projectile testing and reduce the ability of players to adjust their grille settings to reduce the risk of leaving a gap greater than the 55mm recommended in the new safety standards.

“One of the things in the new standard is that it changes the ability of a user to set the grille and leave an unsafe gap,” Porter said.

“With the new designs there is often no ability to adjust the gap between the peak and the grille which is not necessarily popular with the players but which is necessary.”

Broad was wearing a distinctive pointed helmet made by Ayrtek, a Bristol firm, which has passed rigorous testing and become popular with international cricketers.